Rainy Days, Soggy Soils, & Idle Planters

hile only about 20% of Indianas corn crop is
typically planted by 30 April (1983-2001 crop reporting data, Indiana Ag.
Stats. Service), farmers have been spoiled the last couple of years with
excellent weather and soil conditions in late March and early April.
Consequently, many farmers throughout the state were already well into planting
by this time last year. Not so in 2002. Rain and snow during the past four
weeks have
delayed the start of corn and soybean planting throughout
Indiana.

None of this is news to the regulars down at the Chat n Chew
Café, but the frustration level is beginning to build among those who
are faced with a significant acreage of corn yet unplanted, let alone that of
soybean. While there is plenty of time to begin corn planting within the prime
planting window of late April and early May, the risk is mounting that the
finish of corn planting may occur in mid-May or later when yield losses to
delayed planting increase significantly due to the shortened available growing
season and accompanying stress factors. What can growers do to minimize that
risk?

By the time the end of April rolls around, growers should concentrate
primarily on planting corn and less so on performing related field activities
such as tillage and pre-plant fertilizer or herbicide applications. This advice
is particularly applicable if the time spent accomplishing these other field
activities would otherwise limit the completion of the planting operation in a
timely fashion. In particular,

If you were aiming for pre-plant nitrogen
applications, consider switching to a sidedress nitrogen application
strategy using either 28% UAN liquid nitrogen or anhydrous ammonia fertilizer
sources. An additional benefit to sidedress fertilizer strategies is that
applying nitrogen fertilizer after corn emergence reduces the time frame for
nitrogen loss caused by leaching or denitrification, resulting in more
available nitrogen to the growing crop. The primary risk associated with a
sidedress fertilizer strategy is that rainy June weather may prevent timely
nitrogen applications before the crop becomes too tall for ground-driven
application equipment. See Tony Vyn's related news release on
sidedress
nitrogen.

If you practice conventional tillage, reduce the number of pre-plant tillage
trips. Todays planters do not require tabletop smooth seedbeds. If
shallow tillage was performed last fall, consider planting into the stale
seedbed without any additional tillage this spring. If no tillage was done
after last seasons soybean harvest, consider no-till planting the corn
into the soybean stubble. See Tony Vyns related article on
tillage in a wet spring.

If you were aiming for pre-plant incorporated herbicide applications, consider switching to
pre-emerge or post-emerge application strategies. The arsenal of corn
herbicides suitable for pre-emerge or post-emerge applications is much larger
than years ago. The primary risk associated with pre-emerge or post-emerge
strategies is that rainy weather after planting may prevent timely herbicide
applications before the weeds become too large for effective control or the
crop develops beyond the herbicide label restrictions for crop growth stage.

Minimize herbicide application down
time and headaches by taking advantage of the current soggy soil
down time to scout your fields and identify the major weeds (primarily winter
annuals) that are already growing. If you will be applying burndown herbicides,
make sure you have the products readily available that will most effectively
control the weeds identified by your field scouting activity. Calibrate and
perform last minute preventive maintenance on your spray equipment. Make sure
you have enough and the right chemical products to accomplish the job to avoid
those unexpected trips to the dealer during planting. See a related article by
Glenn Nice and Tom Bauman on
burndown
herbicides.

Minimize the risk of planter equipment down
time by using these days of rain and soggy soils to go over the
planter and tractor one last time to ensure that everything is working
properly. This includes any last minute calibrations of starter fertilizer and
insecticide applicators. Also make sure you understand all the ins and outs of
any electronic controls associated with the planter (seed monitors, variable
seed drives, fertilizer controls, GPS receivers, etc.) to minimize valuable
time spent during planting trying to figure out why some @#$!%! electronic
component is not working properly.

If you use some type of air
planter AND your seed corn this year ranges from very small to large
or very large kernel hybrids, make sure you are prepared for any necessary seed
disc/drum switches and/or adjustments in air/vacuum pressure when you switch
from one seed lot to another. Write the necessary information down in your
pocket notepad or palm computer now so that you wont waste time thumbing
through the operators manual during planting or, worse yet, ignore the
planter adjustments altogether.

Finally, if you are already wondering whether to switch to earlier
maturity hybrids because of the late start of the planting season, the short
answer is Dont worry yet. A decision to switch hybrid
maturities is not necessary for most Indiana corn growers until
planting is delayed to late May or later.

For other
information about corn, take a look at the Corn Growers Guidebook on the World
Wide Web at http://www.kingcorn.org

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